Photo Gallery 2010 Small World Scholarship Winners are from left, Kenneth Hall, Danny Hernandez and Vinny Cabanas Victoria Hall and son Kenneth visit with Small World Board Member Don Bolen. Below: Rodrigo Ramos and Sergio Guerro, former scholarship recipients and now young professionals, have joined the Small World Board to help other young people. Below, Mary Frazier of Collin College visits with Small World Board Member Thamara Millan.

With Love it is a Small World is an organization that does not just hand out a scholarship and send a student off with good wishes, as longtime board member and sponsor of this annual event Don Bolen says. A Small World Scholarship is a gift for life–a gift that can provide a life of opportunity.

Each year, the board of this local charitable organization holds a reception for past and current scholarship winners in order to strengthen ties to these young people, catch up on news and encourage new scholarship winners to see what lies ahead in their future. It is a way to continue a relationship with young people who have benefited from the scholarship program.

During the past decade Small World has funded more than $500,000 to provide scholarships to FISD students.  The Small World Scholarships are awarded annually through the Frisco Education Foundation. Today some of those students are college graduates, married, expecting children of their own and most of all they are armed with the tools for life that only a good education can provide. The organization takes great pride in the fact that they have never lost a scholarship candidate due to the student not being able to make their grades.

The 2010 scholarship winners, Vinny Cabanas, Kenneth Hall and Danny Hernandez, were introduced at the June reception. They had an opportunity to meet with students who have received scholarships over the years, some of whom are still in school and others who have completed their education and begun careers and families. Supporters and friends of Small World, such as several members of Stonebriar Country Club, Dr. Rick Reedy, FISD superintendent of schools, former Mayor Mike Simpson and his wife Sandy, and Mary Frazier of Collin College, were also on hand to encourage students.

Board member Don Bolen was thrilled to announce that two former scholarship winners, Rodrigo Ramos and Sergio Guerro, have joined the board to “pay forward” the advantages they have received from Small World.  Both young men have completed their educations, married and one is even in the process of purchasing a home.  It is this sort of success that Small World board members want for each of their scholarship recipients.  Bolen noted that one of the joys of serving on the Small World board is watching children become adults. “We are so proud,” he said of the two young men who have asked to play a role in helping other young people. Bolen added that Small World is proud of all 40 scholarship recipients. He repeatedly encouraged those still in school and those who have graduated to “stay the course."

Small World also sponsors a back-to-school clothing program coordinated with Kohl’s Department Store and a holiday Angel program that provides toys and clothes to FISD students.  Many Small World Board members were present including FISD teacher Thamara Millan who along with Dick and Jacqueline Bowman and James White, are founding members of Small World in 1996.  Members of the Briars Club, a charitable group from Stonebriar Country Club, are also strong supporters of the scholarship program and a message of encouragement from the Briars Club was read at the event.